


Autonomous

by methaemoglobinemia (crimsonherbarium)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Arguing, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, RK900's name is Caleb, Smoking, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, emotions are hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 17:26:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16309511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsonherbarium/pseuds/methaemoglobinemia
Summary: In the aftermath of a particularly messy case, Nines attempts to take care of Gavin.It goes about as well as you'd think.





	Autonomous

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [nanowhymo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderstanspiderstan) for the beta!
> 
> I have some news for you guys as well--the DBH: Not Responding collection now has a [Discord](https://discord.gg/D7kbwuy) server! If you enjoy our works and would like to connect with us, feel free to stop by!

Gavin sat on the curb, lighting a cigarette with shaking hands. He inhaled deeply, savoring the way it stung his throat. Tendrils of smoke curled around his face as he exhaled into the damp night air.

Pain. Sharp and insistent, radiating outward from the place the bullet had clipped his arm. From the place he'd sliced his forehead on a barbed wire fence chasing the bastard. Pain that had dulled, but not abated, with the numbing injections the paramedics had administered prior to stitching him up.

Gavin took a long drag on his cigarette and probed the bandage on his forehead with his fingers. It felt wrong against his skin, stiff and other. It was already damp with the dark venous blood that was seeping through.

Clipped footsteps on the sidewalk behind him, which stopped abruptly when they reached him. Caleb stepped onto the pavement, sitting on the curb beside Gavin. “I was wondering where you'd gone.”

“Needed a smoke,” Gavin said gruffly, flicking the ash from the end of his cigarette.

Caleb made a fist against his thigh. Gavin looked up at him, at the fine spray of thirium and blood that was painted across his cheek like dots of ink in a comic book. Caleb stared straight ahead, his LED a solid, unblinking yellow.

“I should not have brought you along on this mission,” Caleb said finally. “I underestimated the target's aggression. I put you in harm's way.”

Gavin bristled. “Nines, I can handle myself. I've been a cop longer than you've _existed_. Do you really think this is the first time I've been shot? I'm _fine_.”

“If the bullet had hit you just two-point-five centimeters to the right, it would have—”

“But it didn't. And we got him. Just drop it, alright?” Gavin's patience was worn thin by lack of sleep and the background pain that needled at him insidiously.

Caleb shot him a sidelong look, his expression grave. “Gavin, you could have been killed.”

“And what about you, huh?” Gavin shouted, his composure suddenly snapping. He jumped to his feet, rounding on Caleb. “You didn't exactly come out of this in one piece either!”

The android grimaced. “I can be repaired, Gavin. You can't.”

Gavin narrowed his eyes. “Fuck you,” he said hoarsely. He turned and stormed down the street, back toward where he'd left his car hours ago. It would be a long walk, but fuck it—he needed to clear his head—

A strong hand grabbed onto his bicep and pulled him back. “Gavin—”

Gavin wheeled around, ripping his arm out of the android's grasp. “I said _fuck off_ , Nines.” He shoved the other man in the chest, trying to create distance between them. His hands came back smeared with warm blue thirium, still leaking from a bullet hole just below Caleb's collarbone.

“No.” Caleb's voice was hard, his expression uncharacteristically angry. “Gavin, you don't get to decide when to cut me out. You don't get to just throw me away like—like a broken toaster when you don't get your way!” His voice rose in pitch—he was practically shouting at Gavin now.

The acrid scent of burning plastic stung Gavin's nose as his cigarette burned down to the filter. He flicked it to the ground. He stared back at Caleb, stone-faced. “The hell I don't.”

“I don't—I don't understand why you always have to be so _mean_ ,” Caleb said, running his hand through his hair in distress. “I've always—I want what's best for you, Gavin—” He made a fist, his LED flashing red. “—And all you do is _push me away_. I'm sick of it!” He choked on the last few words.

Gavin noticed it before Caleb did—the unmistakable sheen of tears welling up in the android's eyes, droplets trembling and then spilling over. They ran down his cheeks, carving rivulets through the blood splattered across his synthetic skin.

“You just—you don't ever _listen_ —” Caleb broke off, touching his fingers to his face in confusion. “What—”

Gavin stood frozen, all anger forgotten at the shock of seeing Caleb expressing such human emotion. Of course, he knew his partner wasn't just a machine—but that didn't stop him from acting like one a good bit of the time. RK900 313-248-317-87, designed explicitly for detective work. It was rare to see him crack a smile, although he sometimes did for Gavin.

It was unheard of to see him do something like this.

“H-hey,” Gavin stuttered, taking a hesitant step toward Caleb. “Look, I didn't mean it, okay? Please stop crying.” He hated how uncomfortable the words sounded coming out of his mouth. How desperate.

Unfortunately, they had exactly the opposite of the intended effect. Caleb dissolved into tears, the distressed flashing of his LED intensifying as he buried his head in his hands.

“Shit,” Gavin muttered. This wasn't what he'd wanted. He put his hands on Caleb's shoulders, wanting to calm him down but not having the slightest fucking idea what to say.

“I…” Caleb managed to gasp out in between sobs. “Gavin?” His eyes were wide and panicked.

Gavin did the only thing he could do. He pulled Caleb close to him, and wrapped his arms around the other man. Caleb collapsed against him, clumsily returning the embrace as he buried his face in Gavin's shoulder.

Gavin took a deep breath, exhaling the stale remnants of his cigarette into the night. There was a lot left to learn about dealing with human emotions. For both of them.

It took a long time, but slowly, finally, Caleb’s LED cycled back to blue.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, as always. I'd love to hear what you thought :)


End file.
